Judge: Miami Marlins Breached Contract With County

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A judge ruled that the Miami Marlins breached their contract with the county when it came to the sale of the team.

Thursday morning was the first hearing in the legal drama after the country filed a lawsuit last week claiming that a 2009 agreement called for the county and city of Miami to get a share of the profits from the sale of the team.

Following the ruling, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez took to social media to share his thoughts on the matter, saying,

“Today, the court ruled that the Marlins breached their contract and failed to provide the County with the detailed information regarding the County’s equity share that was required. I welcome the court’s decision and Jeffrey Loria must now comply with the ruling….Although it is the first step in what will be a longer process, today’s court decision is a positive one for the residents and taxpayers of Miami-Dade County.”

Now the lawsuit, filed Friday, is against former owner Jeffrey Loria and the new ownership group led by Derek Jeter and was related to an agreement that the county and city would finance the team’s ballpark that opened in 2012 and was built mostly with taxpayer money.

Loria bought the Marlins for $158.5 million in 2002 and sold the team to Jeter’s group last fall for $1.2 billion. Loria claimed a loss on the deal, which the county describes as “fuzzy math.”

Loria became wildly unpopular because of his frugal ownership, and the team has endured eight consecutive losing seasons.

Jeter’s group closed on its purchase of the team in October.

The former New York Yankees captain has about a 4 percent ownership stake and leads baseball and business operations as chief executive officer.